This invention relates to diagnostic devices used to test the operation of the various functional systems of the human body and, more particularly, to a gastroesophageal reflux diagnostic tool.
Gastroesophageal reflux is a medical condition that is particularly significant in infants. The retrograde surging of gastric content after a child has eaten can cause many problems including, but not limited to, failure to thrive, aspiration pneumonia and inflammation of the esophagus.
It has been found that the problem in those with significant gastroesophageal reflux is often in the lower esophagus, just above the junction with the stomach. This area, known as the sphincter, normally has a continually high pressure than either the stomach below or esophagus above. This higher pressure prevents the backward flow of gastric content at most times. In effected individuals, this area of high pressure in the lower esophagus is absent or has a much diminished pressure as compared to that of normal individuals. The decrease or absence of pressure in the lower esophagus allows the food to flow back, resulting in the pathologic changes described above.
A commonly used method of confirming the diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux is to measure the pressure in the lower esophagus and stomach, as well as the pressure at several points therebetween. Absence of a high pressure area between the esophagus and the stomach is strong evidence of gastroesophageal reflux.
The usual method of measuring these pressures is to insert a cluster of several tubes through the nose or mouth into the stomach. A device for this purpose is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,437,088 to Bielinski in which each of the tubes has an opening set or relatively fixed at different levels so that pressures can be obtained only at such various heights within the stomach and esophagus. To determine the presence or absence of a high pressure area in the lower esophagus, the entire cluster of tubes is withdrawn from the stomach while continuous pressure readings are taken. This measurement technique works reasonably well in cooperative older children and adults. However, in infants, the movement of the tube to determine the pressure irritates the child, causing him to move, cry or cough. The movement of the diaphragm and contraction of the abdominal wall musculature causes an increase of the pressure within the stomach and esophagus far exceeding the normal pressures which are being observed. Such continual crying and moving of the infant prevents the accurate measurement of internal pressures along the gastroesophageal tract and squanders much valuable time waiting for the child to settle which could be more effectively utilized by the doctor.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a gastroesophageal reflux diagnostic tool with which measurements of pressure at selected locations between the stomach and the lower esophagus may be obtained without disturbing the position of the tool in the gastroesophageal tract of the patient each time a new measurement is to be taken.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a diagnostic tool including means for continually observing the pressure in the stomach and in the lower esophagus while measurements at selected locations therebetween are taken without disturbing the patient.
Further objects and features of the invention reside in the provision and use of an easy to use structure to accomplish the aforementioned objects.
The above description, as well as further objects, features and advantages of the present invention, will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of a presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiment in accordance with the present invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the invention for which reference should be made to the appending claims.